UK terror threat level remains 'critical' says May

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The U.K.’s terror threat level will remain at ‘critical’, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed after a high-level security meeting on Thursday.

May’s announcement came shortly before leaving for Brussels for a NATO leaders’ summit, where she is expected to raise British concerns with U.S. President Donald Trump over American intelligence leaks about Monday’s suicide bombing in Manchester.

May said she would “make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure”.

Monday night’s attack saw a 22-year-old suicide bomber target a concert in the northern English city of Manchester, killing at least 22 people.

There are currently 75 casualties still being treated in hospitals, healthcare services said on Thursday. Twenty-three of these are in a critical state.

Some of the injured have sustained “life-changing injuries” and will need medical and family help “for a long time,” Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, said.

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police continued their investigation into the deadly attack and have made further arrests, bringing the total number of those in custody to 8.

Arrests by officers hunting the network behind the Manchester Arena bombing are “significant”, police chief Ian Hopkins said on Thursday.

Some of the items seized in various raids are “very important” to the investigation, Hopkins said.

Army bomb disposal units, together with Manchester police, attended a suspicious item in the city’s Hulmes area on Thursday but Hopkins said the alert was not necessarily related to the ongoing investigation into Monday’s bombing. The alert was later lifted.

A nationwide minute of silence was observed at 11 a.m. local time Thursday morning and Queen Elizabeth II visited a children’s hospital in Manchester.

With the terror threat level remaining at ‘critical’, British military personnel will continue to assist police in protection duties at key sites such as Buckingham Palace, government and parliament buildings, as well as at important events across the country.